Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat on Friday saluted “the martyrs of the Arab Syrian revolution which will remain stronger than the tyrants,” on the 35th anniversary of the assassination of his father, Kamal Jumblat.

During a ceremony to commemorate his slain father in Baaqlin, Jumblat stressed the need for “democratic dialogue, no matter how sharp the political debate is in Lebanon,” noting that political quarreling “will get sharper.”

Minister of Transportation and Public Works Ghazi al-Aridi stressed on Thursday the importance of “flexibility” in resolving the telecom data dispute as the security agencies had made achievements in the past by obtaining this data.

“President Michel Suleiman tackled the issue during his speech (at the cabinet session on Wednesday at the Baabda Palace), and the obstacles blocking the army from obtaining the (telecom) data,” Aridi told An Nahar newspaper.

The newly-appointed President of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon Judge Sir David Baragwanath stated that the STL does not have jurisdiction in tackling the “so-called false witnesses file.”

He said in his first public statements since assuming his position: “We don’t have jurisdiction to tackle the false witnesses file until the Lebanese government, U.N., and Security Council agree to it.”

Prime Minister Najib Miqati will receive on Thursday a copy of a new indictment in the attacks on the three officials that have been linked to ex-Premier Rafik Hariri’s murder, al-Joumhouria newspaper reported.

Media reports had said that Pre-Trial Judge Daniel Fransen made a progress in preparing the indictments in the assassination attempts of MP Marwan Hamadeh and ex-Defense Minister Elias Murr, and the murder of former Communist party leader George Hawi.

March 14 opposition lawmaker Marwan Hamadeh told parliament on Wednesday that the Lebanese army intelligence in the North was putting restraints on the work of journalists in the area.

According to An Nahar daily on Thursday, Hamadeh was referring to an incident that took place earlier in the week when BBC was seeking to shoot a documentary on the Syrian refugees in the border region of Wadi Khaled.

Change and Reform bloc MP Ibrahim Kanaan confirmed reports that the parliamentary majority forces were seeking to garner majority support for a draft-law proposed by him to authorize the cabinet to set the transportation allowance.

The draft-law “is a solution and guarantees the (continued) work of the cabinet, Kanaan told An Nahar daily published Wednesday despite reports that Speaker Nabih Berri could withdraw the draft-law and another one drafted by opposition al-Mustaqbal MP Nabil de Freij from the agenda of the session if the resignation of Labor Minister Charbel Nahhas was not sent to Premier Najib Miqati ahead of the session.